Anni Betts
Children's Illustrator
How and why did you decide to pursue illustration as your career?
Drawing has been my favorite thing to do since I can remember. It’s the only thing I do that I never get tired of and that I can completely get lost in. And I always loved the idea of making drawings that people would want to own — I remember as a child drawing little cat greeting cards and making my family buy them from the “shop” I set up in my bedroom! So it’s pretty much what I’ve always wanted to do.
Did you attend art school or undertake any other formal artistic training?
When it came time to pick a career, in an effort to be practical I went into graphic design, because it would offer a little more job stability. After getting a Bachelor of Arts in graphic design, I worked as a designer for 8 years. I enjoyed a lot of things about it, and I learned a lot about the business world, project management, client presentations and working within parameters... but ultimately I still wanted to draw and I was happiest when I could work some of my illustrations into whatever I was designing! So since Illustration was still my dream, I saved up some money, quit my job, got a few starter clients and took the leap!
Where do you currently live and where did you grow up?
I grew up in central Illinois, in a university town surrounded by vast soy and corn fields. After college I lived and worked for 13 years in Chicago, and then I moved to England in 2013 when my husband landed a job at a prestigious UK university. I remain there to this day, in the historic and beautiful city of Durham.
Which books from your own childhood really stand out?
I always loved Where the Wild Things Are, and it’s one of my favorites to this day. I love that the story is all about imagination, but it’s so simple. I also love all of the different ways the Wild Things look, and how they’re cute and terrifying at the same time.
Describe your working technique and how you came to perfect it.
I use a blend of hand-drawn and digital techniques. I draw on good old paper up until I have my drawing exactly how I want it — I find drawing on paper is the only way I can really work out my ideas. Then I draw an inked version either with pens on paper, or on my ipad pro with an apple pencil. Then, because I love very intense, bright, saturated color, I do all of the color work in Photoshop, using various brushes and textures.
What do you do in your spare time?
One of the things I love about living in the UK is that there is so much nature and history to explore — two of my favorite things! So I spend a lot of time going to castles, historic towns, waterfalls and forests with my husband and two wonderful kids. I also like to cook, make clothes, and go on long walks.
Have you taken part in any speaker events?
I recently had the pleasure of doing an event at the National Maritime Museum in London, where Tom Kerss, the author of the Starry Storybooks series, and I entertained kids by reading one of our books, and I lead them in a draw-along to draw Cygnus the swan. It was a blast!
Which project are you most proud of?
One of the things I’m most proud of is the Breathe Like a Bear series of books, written by Kira Willey. Not only are they very popular, but we hear a lot of feedback about how they really help children learn to cope with feelings, calm down, focus or relax, sometimes for kids who have a very hard time with those things. So it feels great to be a part of something that helps so many kids!
What are some of your favourite subjects to draw?
I love to draw things from nature — primarily animals, plants, flowers, landscapes — as well as people and buildings. I also do a lot of lettering, which must be coming from my background in graphic design!
Talk us through the process of creating one of your latest illustrations or books.
I start any book project by seeing how the text should lay out from one page to the next, so I know how it will all be paced. Then I draw tiny little thumbnail drawings for each page or spread, making sure to get a good mix of illustration sizes, and a good flow from page to page. Then I create tighter sketches for each page, where I work out all of the details. After those are approved, I ink the drawings in black and white, followed by the color stage where I take everything into photoshop and using lots of layers to color everything and add textures and shading. And voila!